Pages & Paragraphs
by CinnamxnDavies
Summary: When Fairy Tail broke up Lucy had nowhere to go. Everything she had ever been able to call 'home' was gone, and she was all alone. Without her friends, she finds herself relying on Jason - the reporter from Sorcerer's Weekly Magazine, who barely gave her a second glance when she first met him.
1. The Journalist & The Forgotten Fairy

**✦ FORGOTTEN FAIRY**

When he found her, she was a mess. A strong mage of Fairy Tail brought down to her knees in a small apartment room, struggling to maintain her rent. His original task was a story from her, but upon realising her pain, he could not help but realise that writing a story about her would not be a _cool_ thing to do. The headline _'FIORE'S STRONGEST GUILD BREAKS UP'_ would need to wait until another day.

"Miss Lucy Heartfilia?" Jason called to her, with a tenderness that would shock the blonde from the memories she had become lost in. Her head rose up, and her caramel eyes came to focus on him. The once bubbly celestial wizard seemed like she was floating in space, and the earth around her had shattered. Jason wondered if maybe that was how it felt to suddenly lose one's job and friends.

He watched her face twist, until she gave the most fake smile he had ever seen. "Ah, J... Jason, right? Are you here to ask about Fairy Tail?"

 **✦ FILLED WITH SADNESS**

He noticed many differences in Lucy Heartfilia, in the short time he was there. He wondered how many of them had been there the last time he had seen her, but due to the lack of intimacy between them, he had been oblivious to. Her eyes were sad, and she spoke of her guild as if they were higher than her – like she was unworthy of them. She put herself down. And when he asked her about her plans for the future, she had no faith in her golden heart.

At the moment she showed such doubt, Jason realised that he wanted her to feel happy, no matter the costs. She told him to just call her Lucy – no honorific.

The only cool thing to do… "Lucy, I'll help you get back on your feet!" he promised.

For the first time, she gave a smile that look genuine. "Thanks, Jason… But you don't need to do that. I'll manage on my own."

This only fuelled his desire to help. Jason stared dead at her, seeing the puff in her tear-stained cheeks and the veins in bloodshot eyes. He saw her hair, brushed but not quite tidy, and he saw the lips curved downwards. "I understand why you would want to do this alone…" he said, a smile coming to his lips, "But your guild was always one to rely on each other, and I imagine after that, it'll be hard to get back into independence. So until then, I hope you can rely on me."

There was silence. Lucy's eyes skirted away, and her cheeks became pink. "Thanks, Jason…" she repeated, but without rejecting his help this time. That was just enough.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure I'm dependable for you!"

 **✦ NEEDS COMFORT**

That night he comforted her. If the shadows forming under her eyes had not already been evident, then her midnight sobbing gave away an inability to sleep. Lucy Heartfilia was utterly depressed, and this fact sank deep into Jason's chest. He thought about what Fairy Tail must have meant to her.

He thought about what having a best friend might be like. He thought about how it feels to have so many people willing to defend you in a moment's notice. He thought about how this sudden mass of friendship would affect a girl who grew up in a lonely mansion. He thought that he might cry, too, when he realised that it was something he would never understand.

With a tentative knock, he let himself into her room. Being a stranger, there was not much he could do to help. Rather than hold her, or tell her everything was going to be okay, he pulled her blanket over her shoulders, and placed his handkerchief on the bed in front of her. He sat on the bed, and waited. She managed to sleep about two hours later, but not until she'd summoned a white dog to hold close to her heart. For a few minutes, he watched her sleep.

Jason considered if he would feel that bad should Sorcerer's Weekly fire him - that, he thought, must at least be close to her feeling right then. In that case, there would only be one thing that would make him feel better. The idea seemed dumb, and useless.

Then when his eyes fell on a stack of magazines under Lucy's desk, his eyes lit up, and he could only stifle a shout of glee.

 **✦ I WANT TO SEE HER SMILE**

Lucy did not expect Jason to come back two days later. This was evident by the drop of her lip as she opened her door to see him. She looked even more a wreck than when he had left her; that time while she finally got some sleep at the expense of a spirit summoning and a stolen handkerchief. "J-Jason? What are you doing here?"

"Lucy!" he thrust a letter at her face, too fast and too close for her to read. "You've got a job at Sorcerer's Weekly! Isn't that COOL!?" His mouth unhinged wide to let out the shout, and he looked utterly ecstatic.

There were a few silent moments, where his cheerful exterior faltered, curious as to how much help this really was. Lucy had snatched the paper, reading it over with keen eyes. Jason imagined her reading his articles with that regard - eyes skimming over word by word, sometimes moving in a silent whisper as she stumbled over a key point.

Slowly, a light came to those dull eyes. It was not love, and perhaps not even any real semblance of happiness. It was something else. Hope, maybe. Or determination. What he did know, was that he gave her something to work towards. But then, she started blushing, laughing.

And as he saw that smile, he realised it made him feel a million times better, and fixed problems he did not even know existed within himself. "An underwear model?" she asked, giving a smirk. And as he nodded his head like a goof, his heart was melting.

"Imagine," he said, his hand floating through the space in her doorway, as if a game show hostess presenting a gallant prize: "The face of Lucy Heartfilia on the cover of Sorcerer's Weekly, wearing nothing but Heart Kreutz latest undergarments... It would be so COOL! The sales would be off the scale!"

She covered her mouth, and her laughter calmed down. It was a sweet sound when she agreed to the job offer, but then when she thanked him, he thought he would never hear a song sung sweeter.


	2. The Journalist & The Underwear Model

**✦ UNDERWEAR MODEL**

Nobody they hired could own the camera like Lucy did. Her body was naturally curvacious, the perfect bait for male readers, and she seemed to suit almost any colour they tried on her. Jason was there for most of her shoots, making sure she was happy and comfortable in the job he gave her. It did not seem to be an issue for her. Apparently, Lucy did not mind flaunting her body a little bit, and for a month, the attention it gave her kept her constantly hearing good about herself.

There were so many things that made her the best there. To Jason, it was mostly her smile.

He had never noticed the mage much before. Many had described her, in interviews, as someone who was easy and fun to torment. Jason did not understand that, but perhaps it was because he got to know her in a different time. To him, Lucy was someone he wanted to make smile. And the more she smiled, the more he felt like he had done right by her.

* * *

 **✦ UNPARALLELLED BEAUTY**

"You can take a break now." The photographer said, and Lucy let out a heavy breath of air. She had been holding that pose for too long, and her legs had begun to cramp. As she struggled, Jason moved to help her.

"You don't need to do this," she told him sweetly, for the second time that week.

Jason grabbed her outstretched arm. She was wearing a more alluring piece, this time. Rather than a piece of skimpy underwear, it was a dress, white and loose. It was innocent, but the submissive pose had turned it from that into something different. Once he got her on her feet, she seemed like an angel.

Her golden hair was like a halo.

He grinned. "It's the least I can do for our greatest model!"

Jason's eyes sometimes lingered on her for too long, so he kept them closed at times like this. It was a strange quirk, to her, just like the way he shouted when excited.

"COOL!" she looked where he pointed, and found that it was at the next outfit on her clothing rack. Lucy screamed. As her face turned red, Jason was slightly worried.

Before he could ask what's wrong, Lucy was already saying, "I can't wear that! It's barely even underwear!"

He looked at her. Her face was completely red, and her lips were stammering, and she was holding her ears as if trying to block out imaginary voices that told her how the dress made her look. As she broke into tears, Jason could not help but choke back a laugh. Suddenly, he understood why her friends liked to torment her, but that did not mean he'd make her wear the dress.

He grabbed it, along with the hanger, and gave her a thumbs up - "We'll get Jenny to wear this, instead."

* * *

 **✦ DREAMING SOUL**

One day, Lucy did not show up at work. She did not call in sick: she only stayed at home. Jason went to her home to see what was up. When she did not answer, he used his spare key to let himself in, and closed the door behind him. Lucy was in the shower – _maybe,_ he thought, _it isn't so bad_. Then he heard her crying.

Why?

He had no idea.

Waiting for her to come out, he saw something sitting on her desk. Pile upon pile of papers, scrawled messily with all sorts of ideas. One of them, in particular, caught his eye:

 _When he first made the announcement, I did not believe him. I did not want to; neither did anybody else._

 _After losing Aquarius, then Natsu and Happy, the world was already off kilter._

 _I was sad. I was alone._

 _But at least I still had the guild, right?_

 _Wrong._

 _I always thought I wou_ _l_ _d be happy. I spread my faith out to so many._

 _With that much support, I would always have some backup. I did not think it was possible for months of hard work to disappear so suddenly._

 _Not even Loke, or Cancer or Capricorn knew how to help._

 _I was so lucky. I had so many people._

 _Then I was so lonely._

 _Who do I have now?_

Jason saw that letter, and then he saw more. Diaries and journals kept amongst complete fiction. He indulged in as many pieces as possible before finally, Lucy returned from the shower, completely unaware.

* * *

 **✦ I WANT HER DREAMS TO COME TRUE**

Lucy Heartfilia wanted to be a published author. Jason may have had no idea how to publish a novel, but he did have an idea of what the next best thing might be. That lead him to organise a day with Lucy, at a place they could easily talk through the whole mess. He chose 8-Island. It had been rebuilt recently, due to damage done within the crossfire of Fairy Tail's battle with Tartaros. As he waited for Lucy, he began to review the customer service, the atmosphere, and the pricing of the coffee he ordered.

He wrote numbers and notes into a flipbook, taking note of even the slightest pros and cons, such as how the icing of the muffin melted on his tongue, leaving a sugary taste, and how the coffee had so much milk that it dulled the heat and the bitter taste to a stomach-turning scale.

He was busy scratching away when he felt the table rock ever so slightly, and his eyes slowly rose to see her glowing like the sunshine.

Her happiness was his success.

In her eyes, he could see no hint of the loneliness from whence he found her – only a friendly regard. Pink lips were glossy and full, curved into a brilliant smile, her posture was bold and straight, and a greeting fell from her like the lyrics to the sweetest lover's serenade: "Hey, Jason."

Hearing her say his name in such a joyful tone was the greatest music of all. It was rare that Lucy had such good days anymore – she often lost all of her energy by noon. He guessed that celestial spirits may have influenced her, and in that moment he prayed his thanks towards the Celestial King.

Without hesitation, he placed a form on the table. He watched the confusion form on her face – the fairy he pulled from the rubble of a once-proud guild. Could somebody like her even exist in this world of violence and conflict?

"What is this?" she asked.

"I'd like to hire you as a journalist. I heard your writing skills might be exactly what Sorcerer's Weekly needs!" he enthused, giving her a thumbs-up.

Lucy's smile never wavered, even as she pushed a tear from her cheek. He didn't need a 'thank you'. Her happiness was more than enough.


End file.
